Behavioural sensitization to repeated sleep deprivation in a mice model of mania.

Sensitization to the effect of stress has been hypothesized as a mechanism to explain episode recurrence and cycle acceleration in bipolar disorder. Naturalistic observations and experimental work in human patients suggested that sleep deprivation can trigger manic episodes of illness. In rats sleep deprivation (SD) with the platform method caused mania-like behaviours thus providing an animal model of mania with face, construct, and predictive validity. In the present study we administered SD or control stress to male CD1 mice following a dose-response protocol based on time of exposure to the experimental conditions (6, 12 or 24 h) and repetition of treatment (three times). SD, but not st…